HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- His father, Dave, called him Andrew. His mom, Beth Petrone, usually called him Drew. Sometimes, as all parents know, it depended "how much trouble he was in" what he got called, Dave says.

Dave Wright's No. 218 is tribute to Andrew's birthday -- February 18

Because of the thick shock of red hair and relentless smile, his friends at Sparkman Middle School called him "Elmo," after the Sesame Street character.

"The boy was full of life," Dave says. "He loved his family. He loved everybody. There's nobody he didn't like. He loved racing. He loved Alabama football. He was everybody's friend."

Most teenagers already know of a dangerous phenomenon called "the choking game."

"Andrew tried it," his father says. "He messed up."

As described on the website gasp.com, "Adolescents cut off the flow of blood to the brain, in exchange for a few seconds of feeling lightheaded."

"It's called a game," Wright says. "But it's not a game at all."

It's dangerous. It can be fatal.

Andrew tried it Feb. 3. He never regained consciousness. He died Feb. 7.

Eight weeks and a day after the funeral, Dave Wright is putting the finishing touches on a race car he'll drive this season in tribute to his son, and to raise awareness of the tragic phenomenon.

"Did you see this?" he asks a visitor, pointing to the rear quarterpanel.

It's a decal. It's Elmo.

Since the accident, Beth and Dave have both been advocates for awareness. There are two national websites (gasp.com and chokinggame.net) they discuss. Family Services of Madison County is supporting the effort. Fayetteville Junior High has incorporated it into its health class. Wright has contacted other school systems, hoping they'll teach awareness of it.

They're doing so "simply so nobody else has to go through it," Wright says. "We want to get the word out, spread the word it's not a game, and it's dangerous."

Andrew was a lineman on the football team. He wore No. 77. His grandfather, Dave Sr., raced car No. 77 in Nashville.

That was the idea of 10-year-old Jackson Bishop. He's the son of Casey Bishop, one of the top local drivers and a friend of the Wrights. Before the suggestion for the tribute car, Dave admits, "My heart's broken. I didn't care about racing."

In so many ways, he has courageously moved on, beginning his outreach. In others, the wound is fresh, the mourning profound. He has built the tribute for his son, yet still doesn't let passengers in his truck adjust the seat from the way Andrew had it.

"He's on the side (of the car) and he's in my heart," Wright says. "But he's not in the stands. He's not on the top of the trailer hollering at me. And that hurts."

The "Dash for Cash" 100-lap modified race is April 9 at Huntsville Speedway. No. 218 will be ready to race. Dave Wright isn't sure he will be. Even if he doesn't, he'll display the car with its photo montage of Andrew on the front, a photo of him on the side, the Elmo decals and the lyrics from "You Make Me Smile" on the rear deck lid:

"Even when you're gone

Somehow you come along"

Andrew Wright, after he was gone, came along to help others.

He bolstered his father's faith in God. Says Dave, "Andrew saved me in a way, because I wasn't a very religious person." In a school group called First Priority, in the week of Andrew's funeral, some 65 students committed or recommitted their faith.

Four others benefited from organ donation; a nine-year-old received Andrew's heart, a two-year-old got a kidney, a 31-year-old received his liver and a 45-year-old was recipient of a kidney and a pancreas.

"That's a lot of people saved from one boy," Wright says.

There are more to save. There is tragedy to prevent.

How ironic we get so wrapped up, treating our race and our games like they're life and death. This is truly is about life and death. It's not a game.